


Kost

by ixamxleigh



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Asian Inquisitor, Domestic Fluff, F/M, No Inquisition AU, Pregnancy, Slice of Life, finances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-11-09 03:16:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17993807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ixamxleigh/pseuds/ixamxleigh
Summary: Thinking about what my Inquisitor and the Inner Circle have to go through in the events of Dragon Age Inquisition stresses me out sometimes, so I created a No Inquisition AU, wherein the events of DAI never come to pass and they're all free to live their lives and go on adventures without the fate of the entire world on their backs.Here's a snippet of some domesticity between my would-have-been Inquisitor and The Iron Bull.Murk belongs to my BFF arch-mage-cifer-tanuki.tumblr.com





	Kost

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to throw around some names, mostly of existing DAI characters, but also of a few OCs without explanations, so if you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment!

Night in the Emerald Graves, far darker and silent than the forest during the day. The thick canopy that provided shade and dappled sunlight now blocked out the moon and surrounding stars. Even the local wildlife seemed to know better than to venture out now, though most were deep in hibernation now that winter was well underway. The only light to be had was from a single candle set on a very large and ornate desk, accompanied by the faint glow of a great fire burning in the sitting room outside of the small office.

The Iron Bull let out a quiet sigh, setting down his quill, leaning back in the desk chair and rubbing at his tired eye. The paperwork in front of him seemed to drag on, a necessary but draining evil. He paused for a moment and strained his ears for any sound, anything at all to give his mind a brief rest from his work. 

There was the crackle of logs in the fireplaces around the cabin. Snores from the floor above him, with a volume battle taking place between Rocky and Blackwall if he wasn't mistaken, and he rarely was. He caught the tail end of a worried murmur, Dalish maybe, quickly quieted by a bed mate, Skinner definitely. A dull thud sounded as someone stretched out and ran a limb into a wall. No swearing followed, so it was more likely to be Leigh than Sera.

Bull leaned forward with a groan, suddenly realizing that he'd been half asleep for a second or two. He was worn physically, and it didn't help that his current task wore him down mentally. The rather large, two story cabin that he now called home was complete structurally, but there were still tasks that needed to be finished before any of them would consider themselves settled. Dorian and his husband Murk had gifted them with enough qunari-sized Orlesian furniture to furnish the entire house. The master bed, the dining set, and Bull's desk and chair had already been moved in, but there was more still packed away in crates outside, and areas needed to be cleared for neighboring cabins to be built for the Chargers. There were plenty of hands to help, but no one ended the day without being physically exhausted, himself included. He picked up the now dry quill, forcing himself to go over the papers for the third time that evening.

The sound of a door carefully opening before clicking shut made him pause again. Soft, shuffling footsteps followed, bringing with them a gentle golden light as they rounded the stairs in the sitting room to enter his office.

“Kadan,” His deep voice rumbled with more sleep than he intended. “What are you doing up?”

The squat woman only shuffled forward, pressing against his side as he opened his arms to her. She leaned over the desk, carefully setting the spirit light to float above it next to the low candle. Only once the light had settled did she turn to him.

“They didn't wake you, did they?” Bull asked as he smoothed a hand over his wife's pregnant belly. It wouldn't have been the first time the little one had kept her up with their bursts of activity. Most nights they could talk to them, lulling the unborn baby back to sleep, but there were others still where he would stay up with her, waiting until the child wore themselves out.

“Mm, no.” Krystal shook her head, smiling as she shrugged off the quilt draped over her shoulders, then pressing further into him to pull it over his back. Bull hadn't even realized he'd been cold until he helped her pull the blanket, already warmed by her, over his broad shoulders and tight around his neck. 

_ I love her _ , he thought with a smile, the swell of the feeling filling his chest.

“You've been up for a long time. I was worried.”

Bull let out a heavy sigh through his nose. “I'm sorry, Kadan.”

He leaned into her embrace then. Still seated, he was able to press a chaste kiss to her collar bone, then again to her shoulder through the fabric of her lilac nightgown. The hand not pressed to her middle looped around her back, his fingers threading through her long black hair, thicker and silkier than it had been a few months prior. His thumb brushed gently back and forth over her belly, Bull easily finding comfort in her presence.

“Is it bad?” She asked, speaking into the quiet that had befallen them.

Bull carefully pulled back, following her gaze to the paperwork on his desk. The writing was in a coded shorthand known only to Krem and himself, but despite her own trouble with numbers, Krystal knew just enough to know finances when she saw it.

The pregnancy had been a surprise to everyone, though a thoroughly welcomed one. No one had caught it until she was already four months along and heavily ill, leaving the two of them with precious little time to make critical decisions, and almost no time at all for Bull to prepare for what those would entail. The Chargers, being the large misfit family that they are, rallied around the couple, pooling their resources and scraping together what supplies and funds they could. They all agreed it was all hands on deck until after the new “recruit” arrived, but that meant that no jobs had been taken in the past two months, and no coin either.

They'd cut costs where they could, but travel had been slow due to the toll the pregnancy was taking on Krystal. As worrying as it was, Bull would have stopped and settled down anywhere with decent ground had Stitches and Leigh not been there to assure him that despite her symptoms, the pregnancy was going well, and Krystal would be fine so long as they tended to her and rested as much as possible. Along the way they ran into people they'd met in the years past, people they had allied with, and eventually became good friends with. Excited for Bull and Krystal's new venture, they'd joined in, pooling their own resources and lending a hand in whatever way was needed. The help and company was much appreciated, but only slowed the depletion on their savings but a small margin.

His wife was nearly always confined to the nearest bed or chair, weary and sick from the pregnancy, and Bull hadn't wanted to add to her stress. But, she was his wife and Kadan, and he wasn't going to lie to her either.

“We'll last another month and a half, if we're careful.” He picked up the parchment, reading over it as he spoke. Krystal rubbed gentle circles on his shoulder, letting him know that it was okay to continue. 

“It's not a deep dent in the savings, but sizable enough. We've been saving coin where we can, but now there's more mouths to feed and people to take care of. Varric throws coin in when he thinks he can get away with it, and I appreciate it, but. . .”

“But we shouldn't rely on his coin forever, and you want to be stable before the baby comes.”

Bull nodded, setting the parchment back onto the desk. He pulled her closer to him, letting her rest against him as he placed his other hand back onto her belly. He met her violet eyes, raising a brow.

“Any ideas?”

Krystal hummed, the hand on his shoulder stopping it's gentle massage as her index finger tapped against his skin.

“Stitches and I could go into Val Boteau and sell some of our potions.” She suggested.

Val Boteau was a small village located about a mile to the south of their settlement. It was mainly a small fishing town, its commerce coming from the shipping of fish and sugarcane, but it was just large enough to have a Chantry and a minor lord governing it. Bull's initial impression of the townspeople were that they were close knit and outwardly friendly, but he didn't know or trust them enough to allow his wife and their half-qunari, half-human baby into their midst. Not without half of the Chargers accompanying her,  _ at least _ . The potential outlash of close-minded idiots wasn't a risk he was willing to take with his new family, not just yet. 

Bull smiled, telling her as much. “That's pretty good, Kadan,  _ but _ ,” he gently prodded a finger into her belly. “I don't trust our new neighbors. Not yet. This is  _ Orlais _ . Small town people are either really friendly, or really small minded. And I. . .” His speech drifted to a halt. He took a deep breath, pushing himself to be open and vulnerable with her. “I don't want to find out which one they are the hard way. Not with the two of you caught in the middle.”

Krystal smiled softly, moving her hand from his shoulder to cup his cheek.

“I understand, beloved. But I'm still going to help at least  _ make _ the potions.”

“Keep the best ones for us,”  _ For you, just in case _ . “And you've got a deal.”

“A deal, then.” She smiled, the motion lighting up her eyes even in the dim room. “On top of that, I think Blackwall mentioned that he likes to fish, and we could send Leigh out to forage and hunt.” Krystal covered her mouth, stifling a giggle.

“ _ If  _ we could separate her and Cassandra for long enough.”

“On the contrary, Kadan. Send the two of them together. We'll lose three of our heavy lifters, but if Leigh gets caught by strangers, no one's going to question the Lady Seeker if she tells them to leave the tame werewolf be. And, if Leigh had someone out there to impress, she's going to bring back the biggest and best stuff she can find.”

The mage stifled more laughter, “You sound like you're speaking from experience.”

“Hey, Ben-Hassrath, remember?” 

_ Tal-Vashoth now, thankfully.,  _ he adds to himself as he feels the weight of their unborn child nestled safely between them.

“Right, because you were already impressive enough just as you are to woo me.” She lifted her chin, doing her best to look pleased with herself while barely able to reach his eye level. “No fancy deeds. Just your sharp mind and rugged good looks.”

“You're trying to butter me up, but damn, you're right.” 

They both laughed then, quieted by a kiss he initiated and she met halfway. It was calm and lighthearted, exactly what he needed at this hour.

“Mm, and on a  _ completely  _ unrelated note,” he spoke softly against her lips. “ _ None _ of my “deeds” caught your attention? Not that one time I took down a great bear unarmed, or made you that crown out of sunflowers, or all those times I kicked in those walls, or -”

Bull pressed another kiss to her lips as she broke into another fit of laughter. Besides kissing her being one of his all-time favorite pastimes, there was no need to wake up the rest of the house with their lovers’ antics. Though, Varric wouldn't have minded much, as nosey as he'd been for new writing material.

They broke the kiss and pressed their foreheads together, the tired calm from earlier in their conversation returning. Bull studied her face, looking as tired and content as he felt, recommitting it to memory. The hand still cupping the left side of his face pulled gently, bringing him to bow his head as his wife pressed gentle, bow shaped lips to his forehead.

“Feel better?”

Bull nodded. “Thanks, Kadan.”

“Anytime, beloved.” She reached back over the desk, but picked up the candle by its holder, leaving the golden spirit light in its place. Turning back to him, her eyes held his pleadingly.

“Come to bed soon, please?”

Now it was Bull's turn to cup her plump cheek, bringing her in for one last kiss.

“I will Kadan, I promise.” She moved to part from him, but he held her gently in place.

“Hey, I love you.”

He knew he'd gotten to her by the way she blushed and leaned into the hand on her cheek.

“I love you too.”

With that, Krystal reluctantly left his side, her soft waddling steps and the glow of the candle steadily fading. Only once he heard the door to their bedroom click shut did Bull turn his attention to the parchment on his desk. He picked up his quill, looking out his window and still finding nothing but pitch black. It was easy to find where he'd left off, and easier still to finish running through his calculations now that he had a plan ahead of him. Finally satisfied with his work, and no longer able to ignore the pull of sleeping in the first bed he'd owned in decades and a wife who was honestly his  _ everything _ , Bull filed away his papers, put away the quill and inkwell, then picked up the spirit light, leaving his office dark behind him.  
  



End file.
